


Daughter of Space

by NeverAndAlways



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Children, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Parenthood, Past Mpreg, You Have Been Warned, kirk and spock being dads, original child character - Freeform, this is mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-06 02:26:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1840909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverAndAlways/pseuds/NeverAndAlways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of short stories about raising a child aboard the Enterprise. </p><p>This is a continuation of "One and One Makes Three" (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1478086/chapters/3117496)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

 She looks so much like Spock, Kirk muses as he picks Samantha up out of her crib one morning. 

Even through the layer of baby fat that softens her features, Kirk is struck by how closely his T'hy'la and his daughter resemble each other. She may have Jim's smile, and sandy-brown hair just like his, but Samantha is very much Spock's child. She inherited not only the Vulcan's pointed ears (which look adorable on the five-month-old), but also his piercing eyes. She's already got his frown, too...it's a bit odd to look into her crib and see such a serious little face staring back at you, furrowed brow and all. And she's a very quiet baby (unless it's the middle of the night); she's usually content to just sit, chewing industriously on one chubby fist, and watch the world go by with those solemn brown eyes of hers.

And speaking of Spock...he's so in love with that little girl. He'd never say it, but he's smitten. When he first returned to duty after her birth, he brought her with him in a sling; and even now, when working in their quarters, she's with him- in the sling, or in his lap, or nestled in the crook of his arm. He doesn't often speak to her, unlike Jim. He might name things for her-for instance, saying "sehlat" when she reaches for the stuffed toy- but aside from that, their relationship is mostly one of companionable silence (Jim is just the opposite: he loves to play with Samantha, to make her squeal and giggle. He bounces her on his knee, blows raspberries at her, and makes faces at her until one or both of them eventually tires of it).

Kirk stifles a yawn as he rocks Samantha slowly back and forth. Thankfully, sleep isn't really an issue anymore. By the time Samantha was three months old, Kirk and Spock were beginning to wonder if they'd ever get a full night's sleep again. The last time Kirk could remember being so tired was during his first year at Starfleet Academy. No matter what they did, they would wake up at least once every night to Samantha wailing at the top of her little lungs...eventually, at Bones' suggestion, they tried letting her cry herself back to sleep. This was one of the hardest things Kirk had ever done. The sound of her crying reached deep inside him and pulled on instincts he didn't even know he had- not to mention his heartstrings. It took a while for him to learn that he didn't always have to jump out of bed to comfort her when she fussed.

Now, she (mostly) sleeps through the night, and so do her dads. But, Kirk reminds himself, there are other issues- and even more to come. As if to prove his point, Samantha wriggles one pudgy arm out of the little jumpsuit he's trying to fit her into. Kirk sighs and tries not to think about what she'll be like when she starts talking. 

~**  ◇◆◇  **~


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My internet connection is a little wobbly right now, so this chapter is going to be in two parts.

"Found you!"

Samantha grinned triumphantly at her dad, who unfolded himself from his hiding spot underneath the table. Kirk slowly straightened up with a chorus of popping from his spine. He was getting too old for this.

"Yep, you found me. You're really good at hide-and-seek, kiddo!" 

The three-year-old bounced excitedly. "My turn??"

But Jim was already counting, his hands over his eyes. "...Twooo...threee...fourrr..." Samantha giggled and trotted away to hide. "...fiiive..."

"Bridge to Captain Kirk."

"Just a second -- I'll be right there, Sammy!" Jim uncovered his eyes. "Go ahead."

"You wanted to know when we arrived at Betazed, Captain?"

"I did, thanks. Just, uh...maintain a high orbit, and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Yes sir."

The comm system chirped into silence. Kirk covered his eyes again and resumed counting. "Okay Sam, you ready? Fiiive...siiix...sevennn...eiiight...niiine...ten! Ready or not, here I come!" Let's see...the closet was usually her first choice for hiding...he crept into his sleeping quarters like a cat stalking its prey. Sure enough, the closet door was ajar; he pulled it open with a flourish and a cry of "Gotcha!"- but it was empty. Hmm. Next he looked under the bed...but she wasn't there, either. Spock must have been giving her lessons. He checked in Samantha's room- under the bed, in the closet, under the chair -and tried to ignore the stab of fear in his chest when she was nowhere to be found. "I wonder where Samantha is?" he wondered aloud, trying to sound cheerful. "Maybe she turned invisible...!" he listened for a muffled giggle, but the only sound was the distant hum of the warp drive. "...Okay, Samantha, you win! Come on out."...nothing. "Sweetie, I need to go to the Bridge. It's time to come out now."...still nothing. Where **was** she? Had she left the quarters? God, he hoped not. "Samantha James Kirk, you come out right now, young lady."

...Damn. She really had left. Kirk swallowed hard. How the hell do you find a kid on a starship? The Enterprise was huge, with multiple decks, hundreds of people, thousands of rooms, and now, somewhere among them was a three-year-old intent on finding the best hiding place. He tried not to think about all the things she could fall into or get stuck in...the cargo bays, the shuttle bays, Jefferies tubes, the whole of Engineering...he pressed his comm badge and tried to keep his voice level.

"Kirk to the Bridge."

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Spock? We have a problem."

~**  ☆☆  **~ 


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this part is turning out to be a bit longer than I expected...

Spock stood in the middle of the room, his arms folded. "You have lost our child?" he said, both questioning and accusing. Kirk, who had been pacing around their quarters, turned to face him.

"Yes, Spock, I misplaced our child. I'm a completely irresponsible parent." he snapped. Then he threw up his hands. "I didn't 'lose' her. We were playing hide-and-seek and she...well, she hid."

"And how do you propose to find her?" asked Spock, watching his boyfriend pace.

"I don't know!" Kirk gestured wildly as he spoke. "I turned away for a moment and she was gone! She doesn't wear a comm badge, so we can't call her, and the computer can't locate her either...shit, Spock, she could be anywhere on this damn ship! What if she's gone to the transporter room, or the cargo bay, or she's stuck in a Jeffries tube somewhere-"

"Jim." Spock grabbed Kirk's wrists and held them still, looking him square in the eyes. "Becoming agitated will help no one." he gently lowered Kirk's hands to his sides. "The only logical course of action is to search the ship section by section."

"'The logical course of action'? Spock, she's three years old. You know as well as I do that logic has nothing on her."

"But it is the best place to start- unless you have a better idea."

Kirk shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay." he relented. "But we can't be the only ones looking for her." he pressed his comm badge. "All hands, this is the Captain; we have a missing child somewhere onboard. If you see a little girl of about three years old, with brown hair, apprehend her and let me know immediately. Kirk out." he then gave a quick nod to Spock, and they were off.

~**  ☆☆  **~

"Okay. If I was a three-year-old, where would I be?" Kirk wondered over the whooshing of the turbolift.

Spock arched an eyebrow. "I did not know you as a child, but you would likely be getting into trouble."

"...Thanks, Spock."

"Samantha is a small child. Therefore, I would assume that she is hiding somehere small."

"So where does that leave us?"

"I do not know. There are many small spaces on the ship."

"Oh, that's really helpful, thanks a lot." Kirk rubbed at the back of his neck. "Okay...okay. Let's split up. That might give us a better chance of tracking her down. God, I hope she's still on the ship..."

"There is no need to be anxious, Jim. She could not have left the ship; we will find her." Spock assured, still infuriatingly calm. The turbolift came to a halt, and the doors slid open.

"Sure." Kirk forced a smile; then he stepped out of the turbolift and they went their separate ways.

 

His first stop was the Bridge, followed by the Ready Room. Samantha was nowhere to be seen, and truthfully, he hadn't really expected her to be there...Chekov offered to help him search (he was surprisingly good with kids, and Sam had taken quite a liking to him even though she couldn't pronounce his name), and he almost accepted before Sulu pointed out that most of the crew was already keeping an eye out for her.

His search then took him to Sickbay, where he found only a rather skeptical Bones.

"You really think she'd be here?" said the doctor dubiously. "This is the last place she'd go, Jim, 'specially since I'm here."

"I know, but it was worth a shot," the captain said wearily.

 

Next was the cargo bay. On impulse, he pressed his comm badge as he hurried through the corridor. "Captain to Commander Spock."

"I have not located her yet, Captain. I would inform you if I had."

"Right, sorry. Kirk out."

He hated being so scared. He was a goddamn Starfleet captain; he'd faced down Nero and a black hole and God knows what else, he shouldn't be so scared about a kid...but this was HIS kid. His Sammy. And despite the meltdowns and drawing on the walls and fighting over bedtime, he loved her like crazy. And he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to her.

The comm system chirped again. "Captain? This is Ensign Mulcahy, I'm in Ten-Forward; I think I just saw your daughter."

"Fantastic. Where?"

"Uh, headed into the turbolift, sir. I couldn't get her in time."

"That's alright, Ensign, thanks. Kirk out." the comm went silent. Kirk swore loudly to the empty hall. At least she was still on the ship, but she could be halfway to the shuttle bays by now, or the aft cargo bay, or- the arboretum. Of course. He did a U-turn and sprinted back to the turbolift. "Ready or not, here I come."

~**  ☆☆  **~


	4. Four

Kirk had never spent much time in the arboretum before Samantha was born, save for taking Spock there on their first date. But Sammy loved the place. She'd spend all day there, given the chance; even the more...vigorous plant species didn't scare her. She actually liked the Klingon flytrap (a violently-colored, waist-high succulent, which actively pursued its prey with barbed vines), and the venomous Romulan pitcher plant too. This should have been the first place he looked for her.

He passed through the double doors and was met with a gust of humid air and the rich, living smell of a garden. She was bound to be in here somewhere.

"Sammy?" his voice echoed off the high glass walls. "Samantha, it's daddy. You're not in trouble, but you need to come out now." the echoes bounced crazily around the room, tangled up in themselves, and faded. A neon-yellow butterfly with transparent wings glided past. 

"I beg your pardon?" a cheerful-looking Bolian head emerged from the bushes at his side. Attached to the head was a rather stout body, clad in a grass-stained jumpsuit and holding a trowel. "Did you call?"

"Uh, yes. Well, no- I, ah, I'm looking for my daughter." Kirk stammered, a little taken aback. "I...don't suppose you've seen her?"

"Your daughter? What does she look like?"

"She's three years old, with pointed ears and hair kind of like mine-"

"Three years old? What is she doing roaming the ship by herself?"

"It's a long story. Have you seen her or not?"

"Hmm." the Bolian tapped his trowel against his chin, leaving a splotch of dirt that looked the beginnings of a beard. "There aren't many children on this ship, but it's certainly possible...let's see...small, sandy hair, pointed ears...d'you know, I may have seen- no, that was Lieutenant Dwight's daughter; what was her name again? Cassidy? Clara? No, that's not right..."

Kirk tried not to roll his eyes as the gardener rambled on. Of all the people he could have asked, he had to ask a Bolian...this was a waste of time.

"Look, uh, thank you for your help, Mister-"

"Lakem."

"-Mister Lakem, but I think I think I'll just look for her on my own."

"As you wish. Good luck!" the Bolian returned to his work, leaving Kirk to scan the room for a glimpse of sandy hair or the hem of a dress. Suddenly the doors swished open behind him, and a familiar voice said, "It seems we both had the same idea." He spun around; Spock stood in the doorway, wearing the faintest hint of a smile. The Vulcan nodded a greeting to the Bolian gardener.

"I guess we did." Kirk agreed. "But I don't see her anywhere...I was sure she'd be here."

"I have been similarly unsuccessful," said Spock, "even with reports of sightings from all over the ship."

"How the hell can one little kid move so fast?"

"I do not know."

"Well, she's gotta be-"

"Engineering to Captain Kirk."

"Scotty?"

"I have yer little girl here, Captain-"

Kirk grinned. "Scotty, you are a lifesaver."

"Aye, sir, but...you might wanna hurry. She's gotten herself in a bit of a tight spot."

Kirk and Spock nearly sprinted out of the arboretum and into the turbolift, with the Bolian gardener's cheerful goodbye echoing after them. "We're on our way, Scotty." said Kirk. "Is Samantha okay?"

"Oh, aye, she's quite proud of herself. Happy as a wee clam. But not for much longer, if she doesn't stay put."

"What do you-"

"Just hurry, please, sir."

 ~**  ☆☆  **~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know much (at all) about how the Engineering systems work, so a lot of this is just guessing...I hope it doesn't sound too far-fetched.  
> (...says the girl writing Star Trek fanfiction...)


	5. Five

They arrived in Engineering to find Scotty standing in front of the warp core with a group of crewmen.

"Mister Scott? Is something the matter?" Spock called to him. Scotty glanced over his shoulder, then pointed to the thrumming blue engine.

"See for yerself, Commander." Scotty moved aside.

"Papa! Daddy!" chirped a little voice. It was Samantha, perched on the matter/antimatter chamber, swinging her little legs happily. She waved to them. "Hi!"

Kirk's blood ran cold. Spock's expression didn't change, but his face went even more pale than usual. "Samantha," he said evenly, "what are you doing up there?"

"Hide-go-seek!" said the little girl. "I good at hiding!"

"Yes, you are." Spock nodded sagely. "But we have found you, so now it is time to come down."

Samantha furrowed her brow at this. "Why?"

"Because we are no longer playing hide-and-seek."

Her face crinkled even more. "No! Wanna play hide-go-seek!!"

Kirk turned to Scotty. "How did she get up there in the first place?" he whispered.

"Hell if I know, sir. I turned around and she'd climbed onto the reaction chamber...something of a miracle that she didn't get fried on the way up there."

Well, that certainly didn't bear thinking about. Kirk turned his attention back to the unfolding scene before him. Spock was inching closer to the warp core, speaking calmly to Samantha, trying to coax her down from her perch, but she had other ideas. The little girl had stood up and was now tiptoeing precariously back and forth along the edge of the chamber. The warp core bathed her in pulsing blue light, giving her face an almost ethereal glow.

"Papa, look! I balance!"

"Yes, I see that. Can you walk back toward me?"

"Why?"

"You are not supposed to be up there."

"Why?"

"Because it is dangerous, and because I said so."

"Why?"

Damn that kid and her never-ending questions...and Spock, too, for trying to use logic on a kid. The Vulcan extended his arms toward her.

"Samantha." his voice had more of an edge to it now. "Please come down."

She shook her head. "Nuh-uh."

"Samantha James Kirk, you are not listening. Come down from there. **Now.** "

"No!"

"Certainly takes after him, doesn't she." whispered Scotty. Kirk nodded.

Samantha was still tiptoeing along, edging toward the plasma stream. She hopped, teetering dangerously on one foot for a moment, and Kirk's heart skipped a beat.

"Sam?" he called. She turned slowly around to face him. "Can you come over here, honey? Hide-and-seek is over, it's time to go home." Her face crumpled with the kind of indignant fury only a three-year-old can muster. Her lip trembled. 

"No! Don' wan' go home, wan' play hide-go-seek!!"

He was starting to regret ever teaching her that game. He switched tactics. "Well, if you come down, we can go to Ten-Forward for-"

"Nooo!!" She was stomping, heading into temper-tantrum mode. This was the opposite of what he'd wanted...he opened his mouth to speak again, Spock reached toward her- and then everything happened at once. Samantha, red-faced now and stomping furiously, brought her foot down on the deuterium canister. It shot open with a hiss, her foot shot forward, and down she went. A shriek echoed through the room as she landed hard on her bottom, slid off the chamber, and plunged out of sight.

" **SAM!!** " Kirk and Spock ran to the railing. Oh god, he knew something like this would happen, and now she was injured or **worse** -

"Daddy?"

He looked down: dangling from a girder, terrified but very much alive, was Samantha. He breathed a sigh of relief. Behind him, Scotty spoke up. "Well, this is a fine mess."

"Thank you for that understatement, Mister Scott." said Spock coldly.

Kirk ignored this. "So what do we do now?" he looked to his boyfriend. "Can we beam her out?"

"Negative. She is too close to the core; it would be impossible to get a lock on her."

Kirk chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm going down there." he swung his leg over the railing, but Scotty intervened and pulled him back.

"Ah, no, bad idea. It's at full power, sir, that floor'll cook you alive."

"Well, then, turn the damn thing off!"

"Aye, sir." Scotty hurried away to his control station.

The pulsing of the warp core slowed to a lazy hum, and the huge blue engine dimmed. Kirk looked back down at his daughter. "You're gonna be okay, Sammy." he called.

"On the contrary," muttered Spock, "the odds are not in her favor at the moment."

"Really, Spock? Shut up." Kirk hissed.

"Right, I've turned 'er down as far as she'll go, Captain."

"Thanks, Scotty." below them, Samantha let out a whine. "Hang in there Sam, I'm coming." Kirk swung himself over the railing. Grabbing onto a beam, he shimmied down to the bottom and gingerly stepped onto the floor. A faint shock ran through the bottoms of his feet, leaving them tingling. He ignored it and instead made his way over to the girder from which Samantha was dangling, positioning himself directly underneath it.

"Okay, Sam, I'm right down here. Can you see me?"

She craned her neck and peered down at him. "Yeah," she squeaked.

"I want you to let go, and I'm gonna catch you, okay?"

"Nuh-uh...!"

"I promise I'll catch you, but we need you outta here."

Samantha whimpered and clung to the girder.

"Sammy, I need you to trust me. Can you close your eyes?" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Good girl. Now I'm gonna count to three, and when I say 'three', I need you to let go, okay? Can you do that...?" Samantha nodded almost imperceptibly. "Okay...you ready?

One...

Two...

Three."

And she let go. Samantha yanked her hands free of the girder and dropped with a scream toward the floor, before landing heavily in Kirk's arms. He staggered a little, then hugged her close. "Good girl."

 

With his daughter clinging to him like a barnacle, Kirk slowly climbed back up to Spock and Scotty and the others. Once there, he leaned over to let Spock take Samantha before lifting himself over the railing. His feet still tingled. "I think that's enough excitement for one day," he sighed. Then he gently ruffled Samantha's hair. "Let's get you to Sickbay, baby girl. What do you say to Scotty?"

The little girl turned to look with tearstained eyes at the engineer. "S'rry." she whispered.

"No harm done, lass. But you gave yer dads quite a scare."

Kirk mouthed a "thank you" to Scotty as he and Spock left Engineering with Samantha in tow. Commanding the flagship of the Federation had nothing on parenting. 

~**  ◇◆◇  **~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, most of the engineering-related stuff in here is guesswork, and probably super inaccurate. I am not an expert by any means.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it's like to be a kid aboard the Enterprise. Samantha's POV.

Samantha Kirk was not just the Captain's daughter: she was Captain James T. Kirk's daughter. She'd always thought that was cool, but now that she was older (eleven years old; practically a young woman) she'd learned enough about her dad's reputation to be proud of it. She liked living on the Enterprise- she'd been born there, she'd grown up among the stars with the engine's hum as her lullaby. She felt as though she knew every inch of the ship, from the Bridge to the bulkheads...but the Enterprise could be a lonely place for a kid. Sure, there was the holodeck and astrometrics; and there was Nyota and Chekov and Sulu and her godfather McCoy to talk to...when they were off-duty. Which was pretty much never. And there were no other kids on the ship- at least, none her own age. Sometimes, it seemed that there was **absolutely nothing** to do (except school, of course, but that didn't count).

One afternoon in particular, when she was out of class and her dads were on Bridge duty, Samantha found herself with nothing better to do than wander around the ship. Passing through the Arboretum, she breathed in the familiar, mulchy smell, and said hello to the Bolian gardener (a sort of constant presence there, a cheerful, elderly man who called her 'miss'). She went to Astrometrics; it was empty, save for some Vulcan lieutenant who stared suspiciously at her until she left. The cargo bays and shuttle bays were always boring; she didn't even bother to go inside. 'I could go climbing in the Jeffries tubes,' she thought, slouching by an access hatch. Her dads didn't want her to, which of course made it that much more appealing...but not today. She stopped by Engineering to say hi to Scotty, but only briefly; the place always made her a little nervous. Probably because of that incident when she was little...she had no memory of it, but judging from her dad's story, she was impressed that Scotty had ever let her in there again. She moved on, past Engineering, up through the turbolifts to the Bridge.

When she got there, she entered the access code and walked right in. This was a mistake. The Bridge was tense and quiet, all eyes fixed on the viewscreen. From the screen loomed a man's face with brownish skin, glaring eyes, long, wild black hair, and a ridged crest on his forehead: a Klingon. Samantha didn't like Kligons. She'd met a few, and they had all been the same: loud and angry and smelling like blood and sweat and leather. She shrank back, hoping the Klingon wouldn't see her, but it was too late- the image's huge eyes focused on her. Still speaking (something about another rendezvous with the Enterprise), the Klingon studied her for several long moments. She hardly breathed until he turned his attention back to the Captain's chair.

"...We shall speak again, Captain. Qapla'!"

The viewscreen went dark. Samantha turned around, hoping to sneak out before anyone else noticed her-

"Captain? I think you have a visitor."

-well, so much for that...she turned around again. Dad had stood up and was giving her the Look (the one all parents seem to have, that makes you feel about two inches tall).

"Samantha James..." he began dangerously, "what have I said about eavesdropping...?"

"I didn't mean to!" Samantha blurted out. "I got out of class and I was bored so I came up to see you and I didn't know you'd be talking to someone-" the words all came out in a rush until Dad motioned for her to slow down.

"Okay, okay." he said, almost laughing. Then he grew serious again. "How much did you hear?"

"Nothing. I mean, almost nothing. Just something about meeting with the Enterprise again in a week. And the 'Qapla' part."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "You're sure that's all you heard?"

Now sa-mekh was standing up too; he turned to dad. "Jim, I believe she is telling the truth. I did not hear her enter until that time."

"...Alright. But Sam? Next time, ask first. Can you remember that?"

Samantha nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good. And now that that's out of the way..." he smiled and opened his arms. "C'mere, kiddo."

After wrapping her up in a bear-hug and ruffling her hair (which, of course, she protested), he sat down again. Samantha perched on the arm of the chair and tried to make her hair lay flat.

"Alright Mister Sulu," said dad, back in Captain-mode. "Set a course back to the station. We'll dock there and await our next orders from Starfleet." then he turned back to Samantha. "So how was class?"

"Good. We got to talk to a guy at Jupiter Station who knows all about holograms and stuff; it was really cool."

"And...?" sa-mekh chimed in.

"And what?"

"There was also a quiz today, was there not...?"

"...There was."

He arched one eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

"If you don't tell us, Sam, we'll have to start guessing." said dad.

"Okay, okay...I got a B."

"That's good!" he patted her shoulder. "See, that wasn't such a scary thing to tell your old man."

Samantha rolled her eyes. Then the computer chirped, making her jump.

"Captain, we're being hailed." Uhura called from across the room.

"I believe that is your 'cue', Samantha." sa-mekh said.

"He's right, kiddo." agreed dad. "Technically, you're not supposed to be up here." Samantha's face fell. "But, tell you what: when we get off-duty tonight, we'll take you to the holodeck. How's that sound?"

"Okay...!"

Dad smiled and pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Now get outta here, you." he said playfully. Samantha hopped down from her perch and trotted away, stopping to give sa-mekh a wave and a smile (he didn't like hugs). Being a kid on the Enterprise was lonely, but it could be pretty awesome too.

 ~**  ☆☆☆  **~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sa-mekh = 'father' in Vulcan.
> 
> Personally, this isn't my favorite chapter so far. But I hope you like it!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a tough day, and I felt the need for some fluff. So here you go!

"RRAAAAAAAWWWR!!!"

Samantha charged across the room, roaring at the top of her little lungs and weilding a toy bat'leth almost as big as she was. Kirk looked up just in time to see the five-year-old barreling toward him; he threw up his hands.

"Oh no, there's a Klingon in my quarters!" he cried in mock distress. Still roaring, the little girl raised the blade over her head and brought it down on his shoulder with a soft *thwack*. Kirk reeled as though gravely injured and let out a dramatic groan.

"Aaaarghh, you got me...!"

Samantha grinned, but Kirk wasn't done yet. Suddenly he sat upright and drew an imaginary phaser from his belt with a triumphant laugh. "You'll never win, Klingon!" he declared. His daughter shrieked in mixed surprise and delight, and took off back the way she came. Kirk jumped to his feet in hot pursuit.

Around and around the room went the Starfleet captain and the tiny Klingon. Kirk chased Samantha (firing his imaginary phaser- and missing every time, of course), Samantha chased Kirk (swinging her bat'leth) until she cornered him and swung the blade, handle-first, right into his kneecap. He crumpled. She took the opportunity to whack him again, this time on the back, and pounce on him when he finally fell. Then she sat on his back and yelled in triumphant, vaguely Klingon-sounding gibberish. 

Spock poked his head through the door. "Is everything alright, Jim...?" his eyes fell on Kirk, then travelled upward to Samantha. One eyebrow arched.

"I am victowious!!" the little girl crowed.

"Indeed." said Spock, with laughter in his voice. He tilted his head to look at Kirk. "Captain, I never thought I would live to see your defeat."

Kirk heaved himself up onto his elbows to glare half-heartedly at the Vulcan. "Ha ha. Are you gonna help me up or not?"

~**  ☆☆  **~

 


End file.
